Without a Word
by shipatfirstsight
Summary: Caroline leaves Mystic Falls, Rebekah in tow, only intent on discovering the world without a man, thank you very much. But by fate or circumstance, or just dumb luck, the pair of blondes are eventually drawn to New Orleans. Deception and romance abound in the city, but the question remains: Who will be King?
1. Prologue

**Summary: Caroline leaves Mystic Falls, Rebekah in tow, only intent on discovering the world without a man, thank you very much. But by fate or circumstance, or just dumb luck, the pair of blondes are eventually drawn to New Orleans. Deception and romance abound in the city, but the question remains: Who will be King? The Originals AU. **

**Major pairing: Klaroline **

**Rating: M**

**Warnings: Sex, torture, violence, minor character deaths**

**Author's Note at the bottom**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or TO**

**Prologue- 100 years ago, New Orleans**

He squeezed Demetria Calder's heart in his hand. It wasn't a new feeling, not after nine hundred years of this life, killing those who dared to cross him, but still, a sense of dread filled him as the girl's body hit the floor.

Klaus brushed the feeling aside though. The witch had deserved death, and she was lucky that he hadn't taken his rage out on all of the witches in the city. Planning an uprising against him, as if she had any chance of winning. She had been so easy to kill, not knowing who he really was, and she wasn't nearly powerful enough to take him down. New Orleans was his city, and he wasn't going to give it up as easily as all that.

Four months in the city. Four months that had made him feel freer, and with no sign of Mikael having followed them from Amenia, he was content to grow comfortable. He was close to being truly happy, and he knew his siblings felt the same. He didn't want to lose this city. Not for Mikael, not for witches, not for anything, and he would do anything and everything in his power to make sure New Orleans remained his forever, with or without his actual presence.

It was why he took on the role of mentoring a young man he found, a young prodigy. Marcel. He had found him, nearly dead, for no reason other than the color of his skin. Klaus felt almost sorry for the boy, almost; it was the fear, the hate, that people showed him, and Klaus had a moment of remembering his own childhood with Mikael. So he turned the boy, and taught him much that he knew. He had a witch make him a daylight ring, he taught him how to feed and exhibit control, but never mercy. To make family when people deserted you. That love was a weakness, only to be used to exploit people and bend them to their will. They were vampires, and as such higher than any other creature.

Perhaps he grew too lax, after a year and no sign of Mikael. He stopped questioning Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol's every move. They were living, truly living, for the first time in centuries. He would never make the mistake again.

Her name was Megaera Petturi, and she was nearly the end of them.

Kol had fallen in with a group of witches when they first arrived, filling his head with talk of immortals older than the originals, not knowing at first that they were speaking to one of the feared, legendary vampires. And he had fallen in love with a girl. Megaera. He told her everything. Their births, their transformation by their mother, that Klaus wasn't their full brother, that they were the famed originals, that Klaus was the one responsible for the death of Demetria. And that Mikael had a way to kill them all, that they had been on the run from their father so that he couldn't.

She betrayed him. Sold him out. The witches brother, Bayard Petturi, was the lover of Demetria. She saw her brother's heartache, felt her own rage that one of her kind had been murdered, and when she found an opening to exact revenge, she took it.

Wolves surrounded their mansion, and the originals had no way to get out. The siblings wouldn't be able to leave without Mikael, who they could see in the midst of the werewolves, or the wolves catching them. At least Klaus had had the sense to have a boundary spell made; nothing could cross the borders of the property without his permission, but that was the only luck they seemed to have in the situation.

Klaus cursed his own stupidity, wondered how he had let himself believe he would ever be safe before Mikael was dead. And then he wondered how Mikael had found them. They had been so careful, leaving no trail, not really letting anyone in, only Marcel and Megaera. Marcel he hadn't told about Mikael, but he had heard in the night Megaera asking Kol about him.

He noticed his missing brother; he had thought nothing of it before; the hour was late, his lady friend was here, and the pair often retired before the rest of them. Now though, Mikael's very visible presence behind him through the window, the lack of their presence unsettled him. He strode through the house, ripped open doors, ignored the startled and angered cries of the couple on the bed, moved to the desk, finding what he was looking for quickly enough.

A letter from Mikael, addressed to Megaera, thanking her for her help in finding his children.

Klaus left the room without a word, all the while ignoring the confused calls from Kol, the silence from the girl angering Klaus further and spurring on his movements. He returned to the room, placing the dagger and white oak ash he had found on the desk, pulling the half naked Megaera from the bed, breaking Kol's jaw and arm when he tried to stop him. The witch, though she tried to give him an aneurysm, wasn't strong enough to bring him to his knees. She was dead in seconds, her heart in his hand much the way Demetria's had been months earlier.

He turned to his brother with barely a glance at the girl or the organ he tossed beside her, grabbing the dagger and ash in his hands.

Moments later, his brother lay daggered at his feet, the room in shambles from the fight that had ensued between the two brothers; broken walls, furniture, the doors barely hanging on, and through it all the girl had remained untouched.

Klaus spared a glance for his other siblings, standing in the doorway, anger and concern in their gazes. He turned back to Kol's body though, lifting him up, pushing past Rebekah and Elijah. "Take what you need. We leave in five minutes."

They took the tunnels under the mansion, tunnels Elijah had made without Klaus' knowledge, but he was glad for the intervention. The brothers carried the coffins containing Finn and now Kol while Rebekah carried their trunk. One trunk was all they allowed, shoving the things the three of them needed into the box, knowing that they could replenish their belongings wherever they went next. The tunnel let out at Marcel's estate, two carriages ready for their use.

Klaus did not see the look of disappointment in his prodigy's eyes, did not see the awe the boy had always had for him slip slowly away as the originals fled the city.

Marcel determined that night that nothing would run him out of New Orleans, ever. He was strong, stronger than any human, and he would become stronger than even his maker. He would be a better king than Klaus had ever been. "Gage," he called softly, not turning his head when the first vampire he had created appeared behind him. "Get me Lamia. Let's see what we can do about the witch problem in this city."

Klaus was sick of running, sick of being chased away from places he loved by Mikael. He decided a measure of revenge was in order. He couldn't kill him, not when Mikael possessed the only weapon that could permanently kill any of them, whichever of them he chose to end. So Klaus decided to take away his army.

The camp of werewolves was easy enough to find; they ran as a pack, and when the sun rose, they all changed back into their human form in the same place. He took in as many details as he could about them; their numbers, nearing the hundreds, that they were almost split down the middle in males and females, and he saw the clear bond of mates between several couples, and the odd birthmark on their upper shoulder, a crescent moon.

He killed half of them, at least. The others ran, but no one, no one would ever be able to outrun him forever. He never forgot and he never forgave the New Orleans pack for being complicit in removing him from the city he loved. He hunted them down, every last one, finding the last two in Anderson, Texas in 1995. "Delilah and Sylvain Kuckunniwi?" at their nods, he grinned. "I'm here to kill you." He descended on them, ripping their bodies to shreds, their blood covering the walls.

Klaus never saw the rest of the house. Never thought to check the rest of the house. And he never saw the baby in a room down the hall, sleeping quietly through the slaughter of her parents.

**A/N: So I was pretty unsatisfied in terms of the Originals pilot and decided to do my own spin on it. This will be a full length fic, and I will update as quickly as I possibly can. A lot of the names will have meanings here that are semi-important (for example, Kuckunniwi means "little wolf" which will be important later). Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome. I have an endgame in mind, but the middle details are flexible at this point. Any questions can be either directed here through reviews, through a message, or on my tumblr (user name shipatfirstsight). I'll also post updates, spoilers, snippets, ect. on my tumblr if that interests you.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 1

**I apologize beforehand for the first part of this chapter. I know 4x16 isn't something most of us want to relive, but it's important for the direction I'm taking this story. We'll get into Team Barbie taking on the world and Klaroline soon, but I'm building up to that first.**

***Un-beta'd. I'll probably edit it and re-upload it later, so check back again in the next couple of days.**

**Happy birthday Nadine! I know it's a little early, but I figured it still worked out ^_^, anyway, have a great day!**

**Chapter One- Mystic Falls, 5 weeks ago**

"Little wolf."

He heard the pet name slip from his tongue, fought back a malicious smirk at the two little words. They seemed so innocent in their context. They were anything but.

The phrase could be an endearment, he was almost positive she had taken it as such, at least this time. The first time he had said it to her had been in threat, a distant memory of a woman asking him to kill her instead of the man she loved. And she looked so similar that he could not resist the nod to Delilah.

It had taken seeing her birthmark for the pieces to click, the puzzle to be solved. She was not l_ike_ Delilah, she was _related_ to Delilah. It made sense, the olive tone of her skin (perhaps this night had happened because she did not share the pale complexion of the one he really wanted to be with), the color of her hair (when all he could picture was his hands threading through another's blonde hair), the way she challenged his every move, his every decision, not in a way that made him want to be better (as another girl did), but in a way that made him long for her spilt blood.

And he had gotten that much from Delilah at least. So he would let her daughter, whose existence had passed his notice (was he really getting that sloppy that he couldn't get that information, or at the very least sense the presence of a baby?), go to New Orleans. Find out the fate of the werewolves.

How he had killed every last one of them, hunted them down and slaughtered them. He supposed that in part the vengeance he still longed for because of her part in the hybrid debacle was almost complete. In the same way she had taken those whom he had hoped would be his family, he had taken her pack away, the only way she would feel that she belonged. An eye for an eye as it were. They were even, for now at least.

"Matters of family are sacred." It would be so much more satisfying for him to know that he was sending her somewhere, her thinking there was a chance that she could find out more about her family, that maybe she had some surviving pack members, but he had destroyed all the records, and no one was left. No one but her.

He didn't call her little wolf out of a sense of endearment or enjoying their night together (how could he when amidst all his best efforts to push her away, to push his feelings for her away, she pervaded his every thought?). He called her little wolf because he knew who she was. The last of the Kuckunniwis, the Little Wolves, the last of the Lupi Calumniatus, the Oppressed Wolves.

Mikael's hate of werewolves had extended far. So far, in fact, that he had subverted their true nature. He had a very powerful witch curse them, making him their alpha though he was not a wolf. It was ancient magic, magic Klaus wished he had had access to before the spell she performed killed her; it was a dark magic, though, he supposed that made sense. To turn away from nature, to tie living beings, regardless of their own supernatural status, to a vampire for his own ends. It was horrible. It was brilliant, but the wolf in Klaus, now that he understood that part of himself, rebelled against the idea. Mikael had the witch bind the wolves to him, effectively making him their alpha. He wasn't a wolf, he was a vampire, their greatest enemy, and they had been forced to follow him; follow him against one who for all intents and purposes more suited to be their leader. They were branded by the magic, a birthmark that would travel for generations, an easy identifier for Mikael. But they became one of the key ways that Klaus was able to find all of them.

But the curse didn't stop there, as Klaus had learned through his searchings for the wolves. Fundamentally, there was a switch in the packs' genes. They were loyal to no one, to nothing. No one but Mikael, Mikael's orders. And those order were to kill Klaus.

Maybe that was why he had remembered Delilah; she had been willing to die for her husband when all the other wolves he had found were quick to turn the others over. Maybe that was the worst part of the curse; that they couldn't be a real pack anymore.

In any case, he held no such respect for Hayley. She had so easily given up those who could have been her pack, so easily handed over the boy she claimed to love. No, this night wasn't about respect. He had needed release, and she was the easiest to get it from. A warm body in his bed... an experiment to see if he could get rid of his feelings for another. But it hadn't worked, and all that remained was trying to get the one he really wanted.

He would kill her eventually, she was a liability he couldn't afford with her innate desire to see him dead; their feud wasn't over, would never be over until he could look down with satisfaction at the broken pieces of her and Tyler's bodies. It had simply been put on hold for a little while. He would have the satisfaction of knowing that in a few short days she would most likely find out the truth.

What Klaus hadn't counted on, his fundamental mistake, was that Hayley already knew. She had waited days before looking at the contents of the USB that Shane had given her, but when she had looked... well, her feelings for Klaus hadn't improved any.

Everything was there, everything she needed to know and more.

The names of her parent's. Their marriage license. Her birth certificate. Pictures of her parents' graves. The newspaper detailing the gruesome murder of the two new parents found torn to shreds in their home, the only thing heard when police walked in was the cries of the newborn baby. Her.

And the information police didn't know, couldn't know. That her parent's were part of a pack that had been brutally killed off one by one until none were left; that her parents had been the last. That there were whispers that the legendary Niklaus Mikaelson was the one behind it, that he had killed most of them himself, coming out of his self exile for the task.

Hayley hated him for it, more than she had thought possible. And hate had driven her to do things she hadn't ever thought she would do. Her need for revenge had driven her to do... things she had never thought possible.

Maybe is was true, though. Maybe she was born to betray people. Chris. Dean. Kim. Tyler. Herself. Tyler again through carrying out a plan she still wasn't sure she wanted to support and be a part of. But it was too late now. The game had begun, the pieces were already in place by the time she thought that maybe she had made the wrong choices yet again.

It was easy to blame someone besides herself though. And she did, she would. She would place the blame of her choices on another for months.

"I know what you did." The appearance of the woman in some sleazy downtown New Orleans bar; the woman who revealed herself to not only be the one who had gotten the information about Hayley's parents for Shane, but one of Klaus' greatest enemies herself. Someone who had more than enough reason to hate and want revenge against him. Katherine Pierce. "Sold out your friends, your potential lover. And I thought I was manipulative."

A spark of guilt tugged at her, but she ignored it, pushing the feeling away. Deeper. As deep as she could. Buried with all her other regrets. "I did it to find out about my parent's, I had no choice."

"Oh, but didn't you know little wolf? There's always a choice." As quickly as Katherine had attacked though, she changed courses. "I know people who are more than willing to help both of us get our revenge." Sixteen words that would change Hayley's life. Because some regrets couldn't be buried.

Katherine had spun a story, and for the first time in her life, Hayley felt that someone understood her. Her parents had been murdered, by Klaus, and though the circumstances were different, the two girls were joined by the loss of family. And they had both been separated from the one they loved by Klaus. He continued to torment both their lives, and revenge, even if they could never kill him _some_ sort of revenge, would be sweet.

So with the help of some very vengeful witches, they formed a plan.

They couldn't have the people they loved- parents Hayley could have loved- back. They couldn't be with the men they loved because of Klaus. They didn't have the power they wanted and loved because of Klaus. So they would make sure that he was alone and powerless, forever. That no one would ever love him or want to be with him.

**Mystic Falls- Present Day**

"This has everything you need to know. His location, phone number."

Caroline stared at the envelope on her bed, standing on the far side of her room, and she remembered Klaus' words. He had _known_. He had known where Tyler was, all this time, and he had let him live. Why? Why would he ever-? She knew how mad he was at Tyler, how hard it must have been for him to watch and know that she loved Tyler and not him, and he had just let him live? Why? But she knew the answer. For her. It had, as he said, all been for her. And she couldn't pretend that he was as bad as she wanted to.

But she loved Tyler still, after everything, and she wasn't ready to let him go quite yet. Her attraction to Klaus was undeniable, and the feelings were there, but she wasn't ready to act on them yet. She didn't know if she would be anytime soon.

So why couldn't she open the envelope?

Didn't she want Tyler back, didn't she want him to be able to come back?

She wasn't sure anymore. She missed him, that was undeniable, but it had lessened as the time spent apart from him grew. Graduation was over, her childhood was over, and a part of her, a part that scared her, knew that in a sense, Tyler fit into the childhood compartment of her life.

Maybe it was everything though. Him being gone, experiencing life without him, being able to be happy without him. Realizing that she could do whatever she wanted, go where she wanted. That she could potentially love someone else. Not for the same reasons, and not in the same way, but she could _love_ again. She could think about someone else and she could forget about Tyler. She hated it, she hated that part of herself, but she didn't know if she could stop it anymore.

So did she really want Tyler back?

Truth be told, she wasn't sure she did, not anymore, not now that he could come back. She wanted him to be free, but at the same time she felt... she felt stuck with him. Like she would always be the same girl she was with him, and she didn't want that. She wanted... she wanted to _live_. She wanted to see the world, she wanted to do things and see things that she had only dreamed of. Caroline wanted the art, culture, food. But she couldn't imagine doing those things with Tyler. Whenever she thought of the future, of going to London, Naples, god even New York City, she couldn't help but picture herself with Klaus. So could she be with someone when she no longer saw a future for them? When they had spent more time apart than together?

A part of her wanted to try to be with him; she loved him, she knew that much, and feelings for another man didn't stop that. But could they be together after everything they had gone through without each other? Could they find what they once had? Or were they too different now? She had changed, and she knew he had too. She was okay with being a vampire, she loved it, she wasn't struggling anymore. She didn't just see Mystic Falls as her future. And there were parts of Tyler she would never be able to understand. What he had gone through to break the sire bond; losing both his parents; the part of him that was more wolf than vampire.

It was why she was struggling with her feelings she supposed. Tyler would always see her as Caroline Forbes, baby vampire, and she would see him as a wolf, even if he was a vampire too. They couldn't understand each other's baser nature's, because they were fundamentally different. He was a pack animal... he needed that element to survive. It was innate, in his blood, and when she thought of Tyler versus Klaus, it was easier for her to consider Tyler a werewolf and Klaus a vampire. And she had hated that for so long because she felt closer to Klaus in that way. He understood what it meant to be a vampire in a way that she wasn't sure Tyler ever would.

She had to talk to him though; they couldn't leave things like this. Not if she had doubts about them. About her feelings, about his feelings. She loved him enough, she respected him enough to know that they had to talk about it.

So she walked to her bed and opened the envelope slowly, a piece of paper inside that she pulled out, ignoring the tug at her heart when she saw Klaus' writing.

She fished her phone out of her pocket, slowly punching in the numbers that the paper held. Caroline drummed her fingers against her bedspread as the line rang, stood up straight when she heard the click of the line connecting before his voice came through the line. "Hello?" And she felt nothing. No pull on her heart, no butterflies, no sudden surge of happiness. "Hello?"

"Tyler!" She heard his release of breath, knew then that he was about to feign happiness for her, and though their conversation would confirm it, she knew in that moment, the one breath of air, that they were over.

Maybe she had known since prom night, the distance between them even then. She had been happy he was there, but it wasn't the same. Nothing could be the same ever again, no matter how much she wished it.

"Care, how'd you get my number?" No hello, no relief, only worry; not for her, not for her safety, but for his.

And it hadn't been what she was expecting. She had expected love, elation, anything but what she got. "Umm, Klaus gave it to me. You can come back, you can come home." And still she couldn't give up trying. Not yet. To give up would be... it would be to admit that maybe time was movie much faster than she, she who had all the time in the world, wanted it to.

"Wow, that's uh, that's great."

Again, the lack of any excitement in his tone struck her; had he already moved on then? Found a new home without her? Met someone else? She found she couldn't ask those questions though. All she ask was a simple, "Tyler?"

"I just- I don't want to come back Care. Mystic Falls, there's nothing there for me anymore." She felt her heart break a little; wasn't she something? Wasn't she worth returning to? But he hastened to explain hollow empty words that did nothing to take away from the sting of his rejection. "It's not about you, I found a pack though. They need me, I need them. I love you, but-"

"No, I- I understand Tyler. You have a life without me. Maybe it's time we both moved on and stopped fooling ourselves." And she hung up. It was over. Really, truly over, and for the first time she couldn't blame Klaus. But she wasn't upset, not really... she was _relieved_. And it was the oddest feeling in the world at that moment. She let the relief wash over her before she sat on her bed and let the tears come.

It wasn't just about Tyler and losing him again, for the final time, though her tears were in part because of that. It was what he represented to her. Her childhood was gone. Her human life was coming to an end. And it was all happening so fast that she didn't feel like she could keep up with it anymore.

Liz found her hours later still on her bed, a pillow clutched to her chest. Her tears were gone though, all spent. She sat up when she felt her mother's presence, wiped her face discreetly, trying to hide her sadness from Liz, before her mom joined her on the bed. Liz noticed though; saw the tear stains on her face, and voiced her concern. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Caroline's face crumpled and she forced back tears she hadn't known she still had. "I broke up with Tyler." It was all it took for Liz to pull her into her waiting arms.

And she marveled how even after everything, everything she had gone through, _everything_, the safest, the most comforting place in the world was in her mother's arms.

Caroline clung tighter to her when she realized that one day she wouldn't have this anymore. That this would be gone forever, and she would never get back the comfort that could only be found from being held tight to her mom.

When Liz pulled away and left the room, Caroline took a moment to collect herself, wiped away some of the remaining tears on her face. And when Liz came back into her room, she tried to conjure up a smile.

Liz returned the smile, though hers was obviously genuine and not forced, holding out a thin slip of plastic. "This is for you sweetheart."

When she grabbed the offered item, Caroline finally recognized it for what it was. A credit card. She raised a questioning brow at her mom, waiting for the explanation that was sure to follow.

"Your dad and I talked for a very long time about what we wanted to give you when you graduated. We finally settled on sending you on a trip out into the world. Originally, we were going to go with you, but that didn't work out. Bill's will stipulated though that this trip come into being. It's a prepaid card. You can go where you want, do what you want, see everything I know you've dreamed of seeing."

For a second, she was shocked into silence. She could leave Mystic Falls? She could finally leave? She threw her arms back around Liz, whispering _thank you, thank you_ over and over again, knowing that no words would ever begin to properly describe how ecstatically happy she was in that moment.

The next day, she wished she could recapture her happiness from the night before. Because packing suitcases to leave the only home she had ever known brought the realization that she was leaving home alone. Who would go with her? Who would be willing to leave this behind and go on a world tour with her? (Oh she knew who, knew that if she picked up the phone and asked he just might say yes to her, but she wouldn't, she couldn't do that yet).

"Care?" She whirled at the sound of Matt's voice in her doorway, wondering how he had managed to surprise her. "What's going on?" He asked, taking in her clothing strewn about her room.

"My mom and dad had a fund for me to go on a trip after graduation, so I'm going to Europe." She explained quickly, crossing her arms, a million lists, a million things she still had to do running through her mind.

This should have been the time when her friend congratulated her, maybe wished her a good trip, hugged her goodbye, told her to call or write and take lots of pictures. It wasn't the moment for him to say, "Oh. I'm going to Europe with Rebekah."

"Excuse me?" She would never admit to it later, but Matt swore up and down that she shrieked the two words.

Caroline felt she was justified in her reaction though. This was _Matt_. Nice boy Matt. The kind of boy you wanted to take home to meet your parents. Kind, loyal, dependable (and not at all the kind of guy that she was ultimately attracted to she realized with a start). He couldn't just go frolicking across the globe with _Rebekah_.

It was beyond hypocritical she knew. She had considered taking Klaus up on his offer of showing her the world on more than one occasion. But this was Matt, her brain protested. She was confident that Klaus wouldn't hurt her (again), at least not intentionally. And she had the prideful sense that she could take care of herself. But Matt was vulnerable, human, and Caroline didn't want to trust Rebekah with him.

Which was how Caroline ended up seated on a plane bound for Heathrow Airport, arms crossed as she glared across the aisle (in First Class nonetheless) at the equally annoyed blond original, and Matt, the peacemaker trying to distract Rebekah at least from her anger.

Caroline rolled her eyes in annoyance as Rebekah turned to Matt, flashing him a smile. She turned away, not wanting to see any more, and pulled out her phone before they took off. One text and one missed call awaited her; she listened to the voicemail from Liz, a small smile gracing her features as she listened to her mothers voice.

_Stay safe. I know you can protect yourself, but you don't know what's out there, so just be careful. I love you Caroline, call me when you can._

She saved the message, knowing when she got homesick and it was too late back home to call her mom just to hear her voice that she would replay it over and over again, before checking her inbox. From Klaus, of course. Had she really expected anything less?

Since he had left, since they had become "friends" really, they had talked quite often via txt. It was easy. So much easier when she couldn't see his face and have to constantly remind herself to stay in check with her emotions. And he was nice to talk to; it was nice to have someone to talk to. Someone always there when she needed him. Always willing to listen and offer advice (how strange that she had actively begun to seek comfort and advice from the man she would have once said was her greatest enemy). She liked being able to talk to him still, even though he was gone. And she had really started actively initiating conversations after Silas had appeared to her as Klaus. It had been a wake up call; good or bad, right or wrong, she could no longer pretend that she felt nothing for him. He had become an important part of her life, and she didn't know if she really could live all of forever without him.

**June 9, 2013**

**How is post graduation finding you sweetheart?**

She typed out a quick, _oh it's fine, still looking for the mini fridge you promised me ;)_, just before the flight attendants announced that electronic devices needed to be turned off. There was no need to tell him everything, right? He wasn't her boyfriend, and she didn't owe him anything. She didn't need to tell him she was leaving the country or that, while she was thankful for his "gift", her and Tyler were over. He still hadn't told her why he had left at all, so why should she tell him anything personal?

No, she was going away to get away from all of this, all the swirling, confusing thoughts. Away from thoughts of Tyler and Klaus and all the other drama she'd been through; away from the memories. The bedroom where she had first discovered vampires, where she'd had her free will taken from her; it was gone, behind her as the plane took off. The hospital where she was smothered to death. The woods where she had been tortured. The Lockwood cellar where she had almost been led to slaughter. The cell where her father had tortured her. It went on and on, all the pain she had suffered in a year, and though there had been good times, her mom had been right; she had needed to get away from Mystic Falls. And why shouldn't she? She'd spent every single moment of her life there; she hadn't been lying when she told Klaus that she hadn't been anywhere. And when she had tried to find Bonnie to say goodbye, a tight lipped, resurrected Jeremy had informed her that Bonnie had gone to visit family. Elena told her that Stefan had left town without a word of goodbye. So she could leave too right? Cut her ties to the town, at least for the summer, if not longer?

And honestly, she wasn't sure she even wanted to go to college yet. She had all the time in the world, literally, as long as she avoided death. So why couldn't she enjoy herself for a few years? What were a few years when you had eternity? She could really, for the first time, do anything. She wasn't confined to... human conventions. Caroline was a vampire, and maybe, with the passing of high school, her real transition into adulthood, it was time for her to accept that. It was who she was, and she couldn't change that anymore than she could change who her parents were. And she didn't want to. She loved being a vampire; she loved everything about it. Even the darker parts, which she would only admit in her darkest moments. She liked the power she wielded, that she was stronger than almost everything else on the planet; that she would live forever. That she could do things that no one else would be able to do simply because she had so much time to do them.

There would be time for everything, eventually. Time to see the world, time to go to college, time to decide what was in her heart really and truly. Time to burn bridges and mend relationships. Time to form new friendships. For now, she just needed to concentrate on the exhilarating feeling that came with looking out the plane window and seeing Virginia shrink behind them.

**A/N: Whew! Sorry this took so long to get up, my mom bought a condo and it had a ton of damage and I've been helping her fix it up (while simultaneously getting more and more injured). I'm so happy that so many people seemed to enjoy the prologue, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!**

**I'm going to respond to reviews here, and this may get a little spoilery so read at own risk.**

**thicksexxualtension: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! And this is the spoilery part, so skip this if you don't want to know; Hayley will be pregnant in this fic. I have a reason though and an explanation for how it was made possible and an endgame for that issue, so I guess I'm just going to have to ask you to trust me? Arabella: Klaroline is definitely going to be a huge factor in this story, as I hope I made a little obvious ^_^. Kol is my poor baby and I will forever feel bad for him especially because of the prologue (my personal headcanon for what happened between him and Klaus anyway). I was trying to play a little off of Meg, so I'm glad someone caught that; and her role in this story is pretty major, so we may see her again just in flashbacks or in a larger sense. I'm going to go more in depth into Marcel just because I love him, and I'm a history minor so I sort of want to play on the racial tensions too that are involved in his story (if I'm being historically accurate, and I am trying to be). Uggg, I know. Hayley's awful. I'm going to eventually solve that little problem and I think it will be satisfying in the long run. chillwithJyl: Thank you! brighteyescoldheart: Of course :) buckeye12484: Aggg, thank you so much! Shortie-M: Thank you, I hope you still like where I'm going with it! jessnicole: thanks! sandiw1875: I'll try to update faster ;) Linwe-Amari: Thanks! I'm trying to really get into why Klaus became so overprotective but also why he was so against the concept of love; and why Elijah said that if Klaus undaggered Kol Klaus would have to deal with Kol and then redaggered him. It was a little suspicious to me, so I made my own reasoning. xxvampiresgreatestweaknessxx: I'm so glad you liked it! Jordan: Thanks Jordi! undomiel444: I live off of origin stories, I need them like I need air. It had to be done, so I'm glad you liked them :) DuchessQueen: YES. Though, she's not innocent, and more will be revealed in that regards as we move forward. champagnekiss: I hope I don't disappoint!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**London, England**

Matt should be glad that Caroline didn't have access to a white oak stake.

It wasn't that she hated Rebekah necessarily, or even that she really wanted her dead. It was just that she wasn't sure what else would make the original shut the hell up. Okay, maybe there was a teensy, tiny part of her that wanted Rebekah dead right then. At least it would stop the non-stop criticism.

First it was constant sniping about Caroline being there. The first three days were filled with, _Does Caroline really have to come Matt?, Can't we just go out together Matt?, She'll be fine by herself Matt_, before Rebekah switched tactics.

_You're wearing that? Those shoes, really? Do you have any refinement Caroline? What does my brother see in you?_

She tried, she really, really tried to bite her tongue and hold her anger in check. But Rebekah, well Rebekah didn't have the benefit of Caroline being attracted to her to keep the full brunt of Caroline's anger from unleashing.

It was all kinds of stupid thinking that she had any chance to physically overpower an original, Elena's uncanny ability aside. But she was just so angry, and so tired of hearing Rebekah cajole and demean her that she... snapped.

Launched herself across the room at vampire speed, latching onto the other blonde's hair right as the final "you" rolled off her tongue. Barely registering Matt's horrified yells for them to stop as Caroline clawed and kicked and Rebekah returned her assault, slamming her into the wall by her throat.

It was a quick fight, over before it could really start.

Rebekah was faster, better at fighting than she was. Caroline never really stood a chance, and she should have known that, because she didn't have the benefit of Rebekah caring for her to stop the original from bringing her harm. And she oh so calmly snapped Caroline's neck.

She was really, _really_ tired of getting her neck broken. It was all she could think as she came to, the gentle feeling of someone pushing her hair back from her face soothing her into consciousness. On the bright side, at least Rebekah hadn't killed her; she could have, she had had the chance to. Maybe she was trying to stay in Matt's good graces.

"I can't believe you Rebekah! In what world did you think it would be remotely alright to do this?" Matt's normally gentle voice hissed out, and Caroline smirked inwardly at his defense of her. _That's right Rebekah, he's my friend and he won't fall for your act forever._

"She attacked me Matt-"

"Only because you've done nothing but provoke her since we got here."

"This isn't how I wanted it to be! I thought it would be just you and me, not you and me and your ex girlfriend who my brother just so happens to be interested in. I wanted to escape my family, not have a constant reminder here every single day!"

His hand left Caroline's face suddenly, and she felt like she was intruding, wondered if she should make it known that she was coming to. She could see it now, where she hadn't before; Rebekah cared for Matt, and maybe, just maybe Matt cared for her as well. "She's a part of my life Bekah. I want to try this thing with you, but you have to understand that Caroline's my best friend, awkward ex and all."

She heard Rebekah sigh. "I'll try, for you."

_For you Caroline, it was all for you._

She stretched on the couch with a groan, pushing those thoughts away and alerting the couple to her awakened state, not wanting to invade on their privacy any more than she already had. She figured she could give them that much; if Rebekah was going to try, she could too, so she sat up and rubbed her neck exaggeratedly. Well, she said she would try, that didn't mean she had to get over getting her neck snapped without a second thought.

"Oh don't start Caroline. We both know you deserved it." Caroline and Matt both stared at Rebekah in shock and anger until the original cracked a smile. Caroline smiled hesitantly back, and soon they were all laughing together.

What dark people they had all turned out to be.

Things were better after that though. Caroline and Rebekah formed a tentative friendship. Caroline let Rebekah and Matt have time alone together, and in return Rebekah stopped insulting every choice Caroline made. And she stopped bringing up Klaus, for which Caroline was grateful. It was confusing enough to know that she felt something for him, to know that her most human friend was falling for Klaus' sister right before her eyes and make her question if her feelings for Klaus were as really wrong as she had once thought, it was hard enough to push him from her mind without constantly being reminded that his feelings for her made no sense.

And if Rebekah could care for Matt, if even after a thousand years, heartbreak and pain that Caroline could barely begin to imagine, still had the humanity to long for a normal life, she was forced to admit that her initial observation of Klaus hadn't been as right as she had once thought. He wasn't emotionless. For some crazy reason, he had been able to find his humanity because of her. It was... unthinkable to her, because it was her. She was never the one. Rebekah falling for Matt? She could understand that because Matt was so good, so human. And a part of them, vampires, all of them no matter how much they enjoyed being vampires, longed for the link for humanity. Either that or they turned it off. But she didn't see that in herself. She didn't understand why she brought out Klaus' humanity, and maybe she never would.

Maybe, instead of focusing on the why nots, both for him and for her, she needed to focus on the good. Like that he challenged her, made her want to fight for herself, for her friends, and even for him. He made her smile. And she could help him, he let her, he wanted her to. And he helped her in return.

She needed to do that she realized, she needed to stop belittling herself. She needed to stop belittling him. They were messed up sure, each in their own ways, but maybe one day, not yet, but one day they could be there for each other.

And until then, she would enjoy her time with her old friend and her unexpected new... well, she wouldn't consider Rebekah a friend quite yet, but at least they could be cordial with each other now.

They toured London, when they were together; saw all the usual sights. Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye. Rebekah even took her shopping one day and Caroline helped her pick out a dress for her first official date with Matt in return.

It was comfortable, drama free. And Caroline found that she was actually enjoying herself, more than she had actually been able to enjoy herself in a very long time. It was easy with Matt and Rebekah to slip into the guise of human normality, to pretend that two of them weren't vampires.

Of course, whenever she let herself get comfortable, complacent, that was usually when things started taking turns for the worse.

Like when Elena called, panicked. People were dying, mysteriously drained of blood, much like when the Salvatore's first arrived in Mystic Falls. But worse. It wasn't in twos, like Damon had done. It wasn't random people on the road. People found dead in their homes, left in pools of blood. Men. Women. Children. Whoever it was didn't seem to care, had no reserve. She told Elena to call her if anything got worse; she heard the disappointment in Elena's voice. Had she really expected her to rush home at the first sign of trouble? Maybe it was selfish, but Caroline just wanted to be away from it all, she didn't want to go back. If she did, if she let herself rush back, it would be like that for eternity, she knew that, and she was done only being needed when things got bad. She deserved some quality relaxation time, right?

But her mom, she worried about her mom. So she called her, half frantic. She couldn't lose her mom, not yet. She wasn't ready for that. Who was ever really ready to lose their parent's though? Still, she wouldn't, not yet, not like this.

"Mom, you have to get out of there. Go move to some nice town where you can retire in peace and not have to worry about vampires ever again. Please mommy." Her voice cracked with her last two words as she fought back tears, struggled to keep her voice low so that Matt and Rebekah wouldn't hear her in her weak moment. She didn't need him worrying.

"Honey, I have to be here. These people need me and I need to save as many of them as I can."

"But I need you!"

Liz sighed on the other end of the line. "Sweetheart, I know, trust me I know. I need you too. But you are going to be alive for eternity, you are, and I need to know that you're going to be alright once I'm gone. That you won't turn it off."

Realization dawned on her, cold and cruel. "That's why you wanted me to go isn't it? You want me to be ready when you die."

"It's going to happen Caroline-"

"You could become a vampire! We could be together." She knew though, she knew what her mother would say to that.

"I never wanted to be a vampire. I want to live and die a human life. This isn't anything against you, you know that. You've become so mature, so grown up, handled so much since you transitioned. You blossomed with being a vampire. But I don't want that for myself."

Caroline's hand had gone to cover her mouth by this time, and she moved it quickly, wiping her tears away. "Alright, be safe, and promise me you'll get out of there if anyone threatens you."

"Of course. I love you Caroline."

"I love you too, Mom."

She heard nothing for days after that, tried to push Mystic Falls and her worry for the inhabitants of the town from her mind as they toured the English countryside. Saw castles and landmarks, some of which Rebekah pointed out as either belonging to the Mikaelsons at one time, or having been built under their gaze.

And then Elena called again, asking her to call Stefan. He was acting weird, she said, and Caroline knew him so well, maybe she could help? Elena didn't think Stefan was behind the murders, didn't think that he'd gone ripper again, but she thought that maybe a part of him felt guilty, or led to fix the situation. And she felt awkward talking to him after everything, so with a sigh and an eyeroll Caroline agreed to call him.

She came away from that conversation with a sick feeling in her stomach, but Stefan had never, not once in their call given her a reason to think that there was something wrong with him. So she brushed the feeling off as homesickness. That was normal, understandable.

She worried about Bonnie, wondered why she hadn't called. Maybe though, like her, Bonnie was trying to move on with her life and forget all the horrible things about the town they had all grown up in.

Until Elena called yet again, frantic. Bonnie wasn't answering her phone, and they needed her to figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was the pressure, the worry gnawing at her that made her snap, but snap she did.

"God Elena! Learn to fix fucking problems for yourself. Maybe Bonnie's had enough of bending over backwards for your ass, because I know that I have." She hung up after that, feeling strangely free and sad at the same time.

Elena didn't call after that.

Caroline was glad for one. She was sick of it, sick of Elena and her problems. It was cold and selfish of her, maybe, but she had a life too, didn't that count for anything? Things she cared about, things she wanted to do. And she couldn't help but feel that Elena was holding her back in the same way Mystic Falls had been.

Where her mom had let her go, had wanted her to experience life, Elena wanted her back, wanted Caroline there to help fix the problems that a part of her wanted to blame on Elena.

Then Rebekah received a call and Caroline's world shifted.

She was there, right there, able to hear every painful word that struck her heart.

_Our brother's child is in danger Rebekah. We need you here to protect Hayley, not gallivanting across the globe with the human boy!_

Caroline didn't hear anything after that. Klaus was having a child, a child, with Hayley of all people. How? It wasn't, it didn't even seem remotely possible. Vampires couldn't procreate! She stormed out of the house, ignoring the calls of her name from Matt. She needed to be alone.

How could he? How dare he come back to her graduation, with his promises of waiting for her when he already hadn't? She wanted to know everything, a sick desire. She wanted to know when and why he had chosen Hayley.

And then she stopped short. How could she be mad at him? Did she have a real right to be? She wanted to be, she so wanted to be. But she had resisted him at every turn, he wasn't hers. He had every right to sleep with whoever she wanted. She wished then that he had told her, that he had trusted her enough to tell her.

She was jealous she realized, of Hayley. Again. First Tyler and then Klaus. Kaus was worse though, almost, more jarring. She had always, in the back of her mind, expected Tyler to cheat, at the very least look at other girls. She had grown up with him, she knew who he was. She knew what he did to Vicky, and as much as she wanted to believe he could change for her, he was who he was. But she knew almost nothing about Klaus. She knew who he had been in the time she knew him. She'd never thought though that she could lose him to someone else. Caroline had always thought that he would wait for her, that he would be there when she was ready for him. Because a part of her had always known that they would inevitably find each other, no matter how long she fought it. But now?

Was he still hers at all, would he still be hers? Had he just come to her graduation to say goodbye, to not hurt her feelings even though he had already moved on?

She hated it, she hated not knowing. And she hated not having the courage or strength to pick up the phone and ask him herself.

A howl tore through the night, a sound that chilled her to the bone. She knew that sound; it wasn't a normal wolf. Werewolves. Caroline looked up, saw the full moon high in the sky and realized her mistake.

She ran for it, willing her feet to carry her to safety before it was too late. She was almost there, she could see the light from the windows, could even here Matt consoling Rebekah as she cried. She pushed herself faster, almost there, and right as she believed that maybe she had made it, that she was safe, she was pushed to the ground, growls sounding above her.

_No._ She wasn't going to die, not this way dammit. She had so much she wanted to do. She wanted to go to Paris and Rome and China and she wanted to make love to someone on every continent on the globe and she wanted that someone to be Klaus and she would tell him before she died.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she twisted, flinging the wolf off of her. She bared her fangs, rushing the creature.

They twisted, turned, blurred with movement. Caroline had the satisfaction of feeling her fingers find purchase as she tore chunks of the animals flesh off. She fought it's mouth away from her, knowing that those teeth would inevitably mean her death.

She was a vampire, and sometimes that meant kill or be killed.

Maybe it was time she accepted that.

She pushed the beast as far away from her as she could, whirled, grabbing a tree branch, and when the wolf rushed her once more- its last act- she cleaved its head off. Caroline breathed out, relieved, drunk on her victory. She'd done it, she'd actually done it. For the first time she had faced her attacker head on and won.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she basked in the feeling for a moment. She was high, unbeatable. She could do anything. Her hair fell into her face, so she pushed it away.

And was brought back to the cold cruel reality that she wasn't invincible.

Wet where her hand touched her forehead. She pulled her hand away, half-expecting what she was going to see, but hoping against hope that it wasn't real. That it was her fear manifesting itself or something.

But no, there it was. Blood on her hand, pouring out from the bite in her hand. How had she not noticed it before then? Her hand was cut almost clean through; she was surprised that her hand hadn't gotten bitten off completely. How had she not-?

Hazy, everything was hazy. Time was a blur and it felt like a second and a hundred years all at once when she felt arms lifting her up, running feet.

Heard voices begging her to wake up, but she couldn't. She was left to fight her demons alone.

**New Orleans**

Marcel had learned well from Klaus. Everything he knew.

Rule number ten: identify any and all weaknesses of friends and enemies alike.

And when Klaus received a call from Rebekah- causing a smirk from Marcel as he remembered the times they had spent together a century before- he couldn't resist tuning in.

A girl was injured. Wolf bite.

What Marcel hadn't expected was the very clear fury in Klaus' gaze when he returned to their table.

_Interesting._

**A/N:**

**Whew. So several things: first of all, I am so so so so so sorry that this took so long. Severe non motivation to write. And the next one will hopefully come faster ^_^ And sorry that the trip was cut short, but I never intended for them to be gone long. They- all three of them- have responsibilities and problems and roles to play in everything and life's catching up with them. Unto reviews!**

**xxvampiresgreatestweaknessxx: Thank you! SarahCullen4: thanks! Arabella: Caroline's not going to let Klaus get away with what he did really, even if he wasn't hers. It's more about her wanting him to trust her because if they're going to be together they need to trust each other than him sleeping with someone that isn't her. But there is going to be an argument that comes up. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to your thoughts! Guest: Thanks! thicksexxualtension: There should be lots of Team Barbie in this story. Blonds have to stick together after all. Marina: I'm glad you liked it! Pinkgem22: Matt will be with them for the foreseeable future ;) he has a role in all this as well, and Mystic Falls isn't safe for humans right now. champagnekiss: Katherine and Hayley are definitely not up to anything good. Jordan: Thank you love!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Six Weeks Ago- New Orleans**

"So what you're saying is, somehow the big bad has the ability to knock girls up?"

"Yes," the witch said with a sigh. "Everything must have a balance. He's an abomination, not meant to exist. Two unholy things in one person. Able to produce a child of three supernatural origins."

"Three?" Hayley asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"His mother was a witch, girl. Do try to keep up. His child would be human, but have immense power through his lineage alone. A wolf and a witch, born with the blood of one of the oldest vampires."

"Why do you want him to have a child so badly?" She couldn't understand what these witches could possibly hope to gain from a child alone. How was this getting revenge?

"Leave that to us. But you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that maybe he'll come to care for the child you produce. And then we'll take it from him."

The unspoken _like he took our families from us_ hung in the air, but was understood by all present.

* * *

**Present Day**

Blurs. Memories. Passing sounds. The very distinctive call of her name over and over again. Unable to identify who was calling to her, but able to decipher that there were different people saying it. Changing tones and intonations, differing levels of worry. But all that was background noise to the delusion- and it killed her to know that it was a delusion and to do nothing about it- that she found herself immersed in.

The first time she'd gone through this, she'd been so scared, unable to tell the difference between reality and illusion. She'd thought that Klaus appearing in her room, being so romantic and almost exactly the man she had dreamed of- you know, minus the "psycho-murder, I'm trying to kill all your friends and their loved ones" thing he had going on- was part of that pseudo-reality. When she woke up, she didn't, couldn't, know what had been reality and fiction. Had no legitimate reason for asking him, ever. Had never been able to bring it up in conversation… but the dress that he sent, again almost from her dreams- except you know, how did he know her dress size- made her think that there was a chance that all those lovely words he had said that night in her bedroom could have been true.

The second time, Klaus' bite, she'd been better able to tell what was the difference between what was real and what was not. It was easier somehow, knowing that the hallucinations would come, that they were an inevitability. And they almost weren't as bad then as they had been the first time. She could force them to the back of her mind, focus on the here and now. Focus on Klaus and her irrational want to make him feel better. She had wondered, briefly, later on if her efforts were in an attempt to save her own life. If she was playing him as she had so many times before. But upon further examination, she realized that she had genuinely wanted to help him to understand what he was feeling. It was easier in those moments to separate her feelings from what she knew she should feel. Dying tended to do that for a person. And she could see how… lost he was. He was strong, so strong, in the face of everything. But he had no one, and those he had he pushed away, tried to remove from his life so he would have no weaknesses. And he believed like her- he was so, so like her, and yet they were so different-, like she had at one point, that he couldn't be saved. That there was no chance of redemption for him. But there was, and she was driven by a desire to let him know that there was a shred of humanity in him.

This time was different. She knew that it was all an illusion, cruel tricks on her mind from the immersion of wolf venom into her system. And she couldn't figure out why. Why this time was so much worse than the other two times, and so different. Before, she'd been plagued with… versions of life that were not real. Past events. This time, the future possibilities plagued her. Her mom, her friends, Tyler, Klaus, Hayley, _everyone_ happy without her. Her own mind begging her to just… let go.

* * *

"What do we do Rebekah?" Matt yelled as she hung up with her brother.

"We need to get her to Nik. I have a little blood, but she was bit by a wolf in full form, Matt. It's different than being bit by a hybrid. The amount I have…. I don't know how long it will keep her alive for. But we do need to hurry." She rushed through the house, throwing their belongings in the car, finishing just as Matt, for all his human speed, got Caroline situated in the back seat. And then she floored it to the airport where Nik had, as he'd promised, a private plane ready and waiting for them.

She dug through her purse, searching for the vial with his blood. Matt and her both exchanged glances looking at the paltry amount, but it was all they had. He held Caroline's mouth open, and she poured the small amount in.

It would have to do for now. They could both only hope that it would be enough.

* * *

He liked control. Craved it. Maybe he even loved control. He certainly got off on it.

This was the opposite of control, this impossible situation. It was easier to deal with the inevitability of her death, as horrible and as painful as the thought had been, when it had been at his own hands. When she was there in front of him and he knew he could save her if he couldn't go through with it. That one horrible moment of thinking that she had died, that he had changed his mind too late, was enough for him to realize: he never wanted to go through that again. Ever. Her life was to be preserved and protected at all costs. He would ensure it.

But he hadn't, had he?

He should have- he should have given her bags of his blood. She seemed to attract bites. He should have given her more protections, better protections. He should never have let her leave his side; screw her ever caring about him. He would take her hate if that meant that she would live. Now she might die because he had been an idiot. Too enamored with her to see that though she was strong, she was also incredibly weak. She was a vampire, and that fortunately leant her more protections than mere mortals had, but she was not indestructible. And now, she was on a plane and there was no way to tell if they would make it stateside in time for him to heal her.

Klaus pushed the gas pedal down. He had to get to the airport. He couldn't sit around the house waiting. The airport was better. When the plane landed, he would rush on board. Save her- hopefully. She would be fine. And then he would send her on her way out of New Orleans. He wouldn't have her here, not now. Not in the middle of a war. And she couldn't know about Hayley. He didn't want her to ever know that about him.

Suddenly furious. How dare she. How dare she hold her life in so little esteem. She should know better by now; she should have known better than to go traipsing through the woods on the full moon. How dare she put her life in danger and risk being taken from him.

"How fucking dare you, Caroline!" He roared into the quiet of the car. He wiped a hand over his face, surprised at the wetness he found there. "I will not lose her, do you hear me?" He didn't know who he was talking to, the gods he'd long forsaken, his mother, the universe itself, and he didn't care. Let them all hear, because it remained true. He would not lose her, not to them, not to death, not to anyone. She might never be his, but she would be alive as long as the world went on.

Time was a funny thing. He'd had so long of it. Sometimes, the years passed by in a blur, times changing before they'd really begun. He, his family, they were impervious to the things that plagued the human race. Wars and famine and illness. Death. Faces and people, interchangeable.

And then sometimes, time went impossibly slow. The years spent under the hunter's curse, for example. He'd thought it was longer when he was under the influence of it, thought that it was hundreds of hundreds of years, nearly every month feeling as though it lasted as long as the years he could remember truly living without the eternal pain. To find out it had only been fifty-two years had been a shock. He'd expected centuries, millennia, to have passed. It felt that way tonight. She was dying somewhere he couldn't reach her, and every second felt like an hour.

They were running out of time.

* * *

That smell, it was so familiar. It reached to her through the haze. She couldn't remember who it was, but it felt comforting. Safe. The smell made her think that the pain would go away. The pain racking her body, whoever belonged to that smell would take her pain away. It always did.

* * *

If there was one thing he could pinpoint as something he never wanted to see again, it would be Caroline like this. Her entire body was wracked by convulsions of pain, and he could hear her as he had been approaching screaming from it. And the wound…. she was lucky she still had a hand.

He rushed to her, biting into his wrist, ignoring the worried presence of his sister and her human. Saving Caroline was crucial, and it was all that mattered. He breathed an inward sigh of relief when she responded to his blood, her hands forming death-like vices around his wrist, holding her saving grace firmly to her mouth.

When he thought she'd had enough, when the wound was closed and not a trace remained to prove that it had once existed, he gently plucked her hands away, knowing that she would, as she had every time before, blackout from exhaustion. He raised with her in his arms, finally looking at the cabin's other two occupants. "Let's go to the house. You can rest there for the night."

"Nik," Rebekah's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Did you really think it would be as simple as all that? Save her and sweep out without discussing what the hells going on in this-"

"Tread carefully, Rebekah. You may have gotten her here in time, but you are at least in part responsible for why you had to rush here. It's a full moon, and the only thing holding in my temper right now is the girl in my arms. We can discuss that later, but right now, I was to get Caroline to my home so that she can rest and recover.

The ride to his new house was silent, filled with him looking at Caroline whenever he could spare the glance, Rebekah glaring at him, and Matt trying to comfort Rebekah in silence.

They piled out of the car- Caroline safely ensconced in his arms, a relief, after all she couldn't be dead if he could hear her slowed heart beats, her breaths going in and out- and their path was suddenly filled with light.

"What is the meaning of this, Niklaus?"

"I don't have the time or patience for you tonight brother, so why don't you ask our sister as you get her and her guest situated?" He shoved past his brother, taking the stairs two at a time, as he hoped to avoid a run in with any of the other people who had forced their way into his home.

His room would suffice for her for now. He wanted her close, wanted to make sure that she was going to be alright and that his blood had indeed taken full effect. She stirred when he deposited her on his bed, murmuring his name in her sleep, her features relaxing as she said it.

He bent down to kiss her forehead. "That's right, love. I'm here. You're safe now."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, sorry for the short chapter (again) but the next ones should pick up because things are going to get started now. And sorry for the wait as well! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed! **


	5. Chapter 4

Caroline woke to yelling. Confusion rushed through her, and she picked the pillow up from under her head and promptly brought it up to cover her face and, more importantly, her ears. She felt hungover, but worse; her head throbbed, her muscles ached, and why the hell did whoever was yelling think that that was a good idea?

"Shut the hell up," She croaked, but apparently her desperate plea was not heard as the yelling continued. She strained her ears to hear, focusing on the voice._ Klaus?_ Confusion returned. Why in the hell would she be hearing Klaus' voice? He was halfway across the world….

It returned to her in a rush. England. The woods. The werewolf. The searing pain of getting bitten. And she was still alive, which meant that Klaus had to have saved her. Rebekah and Matt brought her to him? She remembered the taste of his blood in her mouth, and if she concentrated she still could. And then there was the teensy, tiny little detail of the reason why she'd been in the woods. Klaus had somehow managed to have super sperm and get someone, and not just any someone, but someone who had already managed to hurt her, pregnant. She had to get out of here, wherever here was.

She pushed herself up, opening her eyes for the first time. She tried to stand, only for a wave of dizziness to wash over her. She sat back down on the bed for a moment, deciding that she would have to move slowly if there was going to be any chance of escape. So she tiptoed to the door, keeping a firm grasp on the furniture and then on the wall leading to the door. She twisted the knob, slowly pulling the door open, stopping to try and gauge where exactly the god awful yelling was coming from, and avoid the people at all costs. The last thing she needed was a run in with Klaus, or god forbid Hayley. She wasn't sure which one would be worse.

"Why would you let her leave on a full moon, Rebekah? This is your fault!" He was mad at Rebekah? For her getting bit? She rolled her eyes. Always looking for someone to blame; she wanted to yell back at him. She made her own choices, and if it was anyone's fault, it was her's. And him yelling at his sister for Caroline's choices wasn't going to help her relationship with Rebekah.

"God, Nik, you are such an idiot sometimes!" Caroline cheered Rebekah on silently, even as she continued to beg the pair to stop the yelling. "I was going through things of my own, things that are consequently your fault. If you hadn't impregnated your little wolf, Caroline wouldn't have gone for out under a full moon. You've just never been able to admit when things are your fault."

Caroline heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. "Shut the hell up, Rebekah. Just shut the hell up!"

She swung the door open wider, cringing when the jam squeaked. She stepped into the hallway when no one appeared in front of her, going in the opposite direction from where she had heard the voices coming from. There had to be a way to get out somewhere, right? A door, a window? Dammit, a window! _Why didn't I think of that when I was in the room?_ She contemplated turning around, but she didn't want to risk it.

"The door's in the other direction, Caroline."

She squeaked, turning around, to find, in all his smirking glory, the bane of her existence and the one person she couldn't seem to forget about.

"Klaus."

* * *

A hasty explanation later ("I was looking for the kitchen and your blood supply.") that neither of them believed, and she found herself right back in the room she had woken up in, and a blood bag pressed into her hand. "How do you feel? Any residual-"

"I'm fine, Klaus." She snapped; why did he care? But he had saved her. "Thank you for saving me, again." She added hastily.

"Well, let's try not to even let it happen again, and we can just call it even."

"I think I can agree to those terms." She smiled at him, slipping up for a moment, forgetting that she was supposed to hate this man, whose hand hers was still pressed awkwardly into over the blood bag. She pulled away quickly, snapping the bag open and taking a long drought. "B+?" She asked in surprise.

He smiled at her, and she fought down her desire to smile back."A little bird told me it was your favorite."

"Ah. Was the little bird Stefan?"

Klaus laughed as he leaned back against the bed, and she lowered herself into an armchair she hadn't seen on her first visit to the room. "It might have been Stefan."

"Well, thank you for remembering."

"I remember everything about you, Caroline."

The silence stretched out after his comment, neither knowing what to say. "It's a nice place you've got." _What I've seen of it anyway._

"Would you like to see the rest?"

* * *

She didn't know what compelled her to say yes. She really, really needed to get the hell out of dodge before any other awkward meetings happened. The only person she actually wanted to see, needed to say goodbye to, was Matt. It would probably be best if she avoided Rebekah for the next century, at least. And yet here she was, following Klaus through his house, and she honestly couldn't say she was remembering any of it. There were lots of rooms, filled with what she was sure were ancient artifacts, a library, an art room, and she again found herself fighting back a smile at seeing some of his work. They might not have been the best, but there was something so amazing about his passion for the subject. It wasn't that he painted great things, it was that he loved it. It was hard to see someone as an unfeeling monster once you realized that they could feel something.

Caroline was surprised that in the whole of her tour, they hadn't run into anyone. "So, where'd everyone run off to?"

"Ah, that. They knew I was in a temper, so they seem to have fled."

"Smart." She said, focusing on the sketchbook on his bedside table. Her fingers ached to flip through the book; what pervaded his thoughts before he went to bed?

"Why Caroline, what are you implying?"

"Only that you do have quite a temper. And anyone with a brain would flee the premises if they want to keep their lives."

"Is that why I caught you leaving?"

She sighed, facing him again. So they were going to do this? "Klaus, I can't… you're with her now and I don't want to get in the way of your family. Besides, I have to think about college and life, and everything. You know?"

"I'm not with Hayley, Caroline. It's- it's very complicated, but please believe that no one could ever take your place in my heart. Or whatever's in its place." He had approached at some point, kneeling in front of her, and she fought down her surprise at the odd position for him (and her imaginations wild thoughts of other situations that this could happen in) to focus on his next words. "Please stay in New Orleans if you want, Caroline. You can leave when the summer is over, but don't let me and my actions drive you away."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. Where would I stay?"

"If you do decide to stay in the city, I'd rather you stay with me. The world's a dangerous place outside of Mystic Falls, especially the supernatural community. I'll do my utmost to ensure your safety, and your comfort."

"Klaus-"

"Caroline?"

"You're allowed to have a life. Don't lie to me." _Please._

He took her hand, his thumb rubbing over it soothingly. She almost snatched her hand away, but she realized that she really didn't want to; she enjoyed the touch. "The chances of me ever moving on from you are slim to none. I know it's not what you want to hear, and I know that you love Tyler. But say the word, and I am yours."

She nodded, unwilling to tell him that she and Tyler were no longer together. It was a vindictive part of her, the part that wanted him to think she was someone else's just as she had thought that he was. It was cruel of her, and she knew it, but he switched the subject, asking her about England before she could rectify her own actions.

* * *

"You okay, Bekah?" Matt asked as he placed a coffee cup in front of her. She smiled gratefully.

"My brother's not the easiest person in the world to get along with. He's frustrating at best."

"I noticed. But he is your brother."

"I know, I know. He'll always be my brother, but….I just don't… it's so hard to be around him."

Matt covered her hands with his. "If you want to stay here, I'll stay here for you."

"What about Caroline?" She didn't quite manage to hide the resentment that seeped into her voice, residual jealousy both from Matt and from the obvious care his brother held for the girl.

"She can do what she wants. I'll always love her, and she'll always be my friend. But I'm here for you."

* * *

"So, I think you promised to show me New Orleans."

"That I did. Dinner?" He asked, brow raised expectantly, but there was a hesitancy in his eyes, almost as though he didn't think to hope that she would actually want to go to dinner with him.

She shouldn't. She shouldn't encourage him or his feelings. She knew that but…. she wanted to be with him, at least for a little while longer. Screw it. "I'd love that, but I really need a shower, and a change of clothes."

He pointed out the bathroom for her, showing her how to work the shower, before leaving with the promise of returning with both her suitcase and more clothes for her. She tried to stop him, her clothes would do just fine after all, but he was gone. She rolled her eyes, stripping down and stepping under the warm spray. Without her own products, she was left to use his. It was bad enough knowing that she had slept in his bed, that she herself was surrounded by his scent.

And now she would smell like him. Which wasn't that bad, she had to admit. He smelt nice. She liked it; there was something soothing about it. But it wasn't good; not for her. She had to get out of here. She couldn't be drawn into whatever craziness was going on. So she would go out with him, come back to his house, maybe catch some more sleep. Then, she would find Matt, and they would go home together.

And maybe try to forget about the people that had unexpectedly swept into their lives. They could right? They could both move on?

_Selfish, Caroline. You know Matt cares for Rebekah, as crazy as that seems to you. You can't expect him to go home with you just because you want him to. And home isn't safe anymore either._

It didn't even matter, anyway. No matter what, short of compulsion, Caroline knew that she would never be able to forget Klaus.

* * *

Caroline had finally gotten out of the shower, once she felt like all the grime and sweat was off of her. That brought a wave of embarrassment; she couldn't believe that she had been around him for all that time in the state she had been in. And that he had still looked at her like the world began and ended with her.

She toweled off, stepping back into his room hesitantly, half expecting him to be there waiting for her. It had been her initial impression of him, even though he had almost always been a gentleman with her. But the room was empty, save for her suitcase on the bed, and a note requesting that she, "Dress up, but nothing too fancy." So, she pulled out a sundress, a white little number with pink flowers along the hem and up the bodice. She slipped her clothes on before turning back to the bathroom, makeup and hair products in hand.

After primping nervously, because she was Caroline, and that's what she did, she finally decided that she would have to face him eventually. She slung on low rise heels, and called out for him softly. He appeared, dressed somewhat casually in a grey henley, sweater combo, paired with his customary black jeans and boots. She was glad that she seemed to have picked the right outfit, judging from his own casual appearance. "Ready to go?" He asked, extending his arm. She looped hers through his.

"Yes, I'm starving."

"I think you'll enjoy where I'm taking you."

"Where are you taking me?" She asked as they walked out of the room and through the house, exiting through a large kitchen, to find a waiting SUV. He held the door open for her, then waited for her to get situated before closing the door and flashing to his side. They drove for several minutes; they fought over the radio briefly, but Caroline won the argument when she started singing along to a song she recognized. They settled into comfortable silence after that, Klaus driving them to god knew where, and Caroline talking in the sights.

He broke the silence suddenly, his voice nearly making her jump. "Are you sure you feel alright, love? I can give you more blood-"

She was surprised by the real worry in his voice, and her gaze flashed to his in surprise. So she interrupted him. "I'm fine, Klaus. Seriously. I'll tell you if I don't, but honestly I feel much better now."

He looked at her briefly before focusing on the road once more. "If you're sure."

She nodded adamantly. He sighed before turning into a parking lot; she had missed the sign, but when he came round and pulled the door open for her, holding out a hand to help her down (which she accepted), she could smell the seafood. And the outdoor patio beckoned, situated on the water as it was. He caught her gaze, a small smile gracing his features quickly. "I reserved a spot on the deck. I hope that's acceptable."

"Yes!" She said excitedly, bouncing on her toes. She caught his amused gaze, and she laughed. "I've always wanted to eat on the water, you know? But Mystic Falls…"

"Is limited to one restaurant?"

"Ummhmm."

"Well, let's fulfill that desire for you."

* * *

Dinner was nice. Conversation flowed between the pair of them; she hadn't remembered their relationship being this easy. Maybe it was because she wasn't around her friends anymore. Tyler wasn't there to shield her from her feelings anymore. She didn't have to worry about anyone's judgement, so for the first time, she could really let herself be with him.

Afterwards, he said he had some business to take care of, and she agreed to go with him. She didn't want to be alone in his house (she didn't want to run into Hayley that was; it was easy to ignore the new without physical proof in front of her; seeing Hayley would remove the veil and she wasn't ready for that yet, not when she was enjoying herself). He left her at the bar, telling the bartender to put her drinks on his tab.

_There should be a welcome brochure to being a vampire. Become a vampire. Be immortal, indestructible, faster and stronger. *Alcoholism may be a side effect of the transition._

And she certainly wasn't innocent; drinking did make the cravings easier to handle.

"Well, you're new."

She stiffened at the voice, even as she noticed the bar tender's eyes light up before she shuffled off. She turned, finding a very good looking man. _Vampire._ She didn't know how she knew, but she did. It was in his stance, the way he held himself. As though he held unlimited power in his hands. "Yeah, I just got here."

"All new vampires are required to come through me."

"Oh?" She asked, brows raised, wondering what the guy's problem was.

He laughed, brushing off the men that surged forward, as though ready to attack her. "I am in charge here, chérie. It's just precautionary, you understand?" She nodded, but he continued before she could say anything. "Let's start over. I'm Marcel. Welcome to New Orleans." He stuck out a hand, and she accepted it, expecting a handshake, but instead he brought her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss there. He let her hand drop, looking at her expectantly.

"Caroline." She answered, plastering a smile on her face.

"Camille," Marcel yelled. "Two drinks for me and my new friend here."

"Oh you don't have to-" She protested.

He waved her off. "Nonsense. I find it my duty to make beautiful women feel welcome in my city."

"Well, thank you, but I'm here with-"

"Marcel. What the hell are you doing?"

Speak of the devil.

Caroline flinched at the angry tone in his voice. She knew that voice; it normally came before people started dying.

"Why Klaus, I'm just enjoying a drink with Caroline here. Well, trying to at least."

"Caroline's with me, Marcel."

"I'm sure she can choose who she wants to be with all by herself, old friend."

She so did not want to be in the middle of what was obviously a pissing match. But she turned anyway, facing Klaus' angry glare. "Maybe some other time, Marcel?"

"I'll hold you to that, sweet Caroline." Marcel said with a chuckle.

* * *

Klaus waited until they were back at his house to round on her, after a tense and silent car ride, throught out which Caroline could feel the waves of anger and jealousy rolling off of him.

"Stay away from him, Caroline." Klaus ground out when they were in the foyer, grasping her upper arm in his hand when she tried to brush past him.

She shook free, infuriated at his audacity. "You have no right to tell me what to do Klaus."

His eyes narrowed to slits, but she refused to back down, even as he stalked closer and clenched his fists. "He's dangerous."

Caroline scoffed. _Of all the ridiculous…_ "And you're not? Because last time I checked, you're supposed to be the most dangerous thing out there." _And I can hold my own against you, thank you very much._

"Be that as it may, sweetheart, I wouldn't harm you." She shoot him a look, and he pinched the bridge of his nose as he clenched his eyes shut. "I wouldn't harm you ever again; trust me when I say that losing you is not an experience I want to go through. Marcel has no such qualms, and if he found out the depth of my feelings for you- just stay the hell away from him."

Caroline made up her mind then and there; she was going to stay in New Orleans if only to prove to Klaus that he didn't and couldn't control her. She would talk to and befriend whomever she wanted, Klaus' opinion be damned. "He seemed nice enough to me. In fact, he was nicer to me than you were the first time we met."

"Dammit, Caroline! Are you going to hold my past actions against me forever?" She tried to jump in, because how dare he yell at her?, but apparently he wasn't done yet. "You plotted to kill me and my family multiple times. You lied to me, you used me, and all the while you knew how I felt for you. I'm far from blameless,"

_Quick, someone stop the presses._ She couldn't help the wayward thought; Klaus actually admitting that he had been wrong? That in itself was a miracle.

"But I can't change the things I did. And I don't want to. All that should matter is that I lo- I care for you now."

"Oh, you think that's the most important thing? More important than people I've been friends with all my life? More important than people you killed for your own selfish reasons? More important than the boy I loved having to leave town because of you?"

"He was trying to kill me!"

"Can you blame him? You killed the only person he had left."

"I didn't kill you!"

"You almost did." She spat.

Regret flashed in his eyes. "Twice today, Caroline. That's twice you've reminded me of something that I deeply regret."

"You can't try and control me, Klaus. It doesn't work like that."

"And what about Tyler? What would he think of you hanging around someone like Marcel."

_Well, since he seems not to like you, I suspect they'd get on rather well._ "I suspect he wouldn't care."

"What do you mean?" His voice had gone dangerously low again.

"Tyler and I broke up, not that it's any of your business."

"The hell it isn't."

She didn't have time to process his words or respond to them. Mostly because she found herself pressed against a wall, Klaus' face startlingly close to hers. Their lips touched then, and everything ceased to matter.


End file.
